Rambus Ecebs today announced a comprehensive mobile ticketing product suite leveraging Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology to securely load virtual smart cards onto smart phones for the public transport industry. From the back office to the consumer, this solution includes an HCE Ticket Wallet Service and Ticketing App that enables transport operators to easily and securely transition from physical to virtual smart cards while maintaining compatibility with their existing smart infrastructure.

Russell McCullagh, managing director at Rambus Ecebs, said:

“The era of smart phones is redefining public transport, providing ease-of-use, security and convenience to travel seamlessly from train to bus to ferry to toll”

“By leveraging HCE technology, which has been proven in high volume for mobile payments, this solution delivers secure mobile ticketing to NFC-enabled smart phones across all mobile network providers. With this, travellers can securely select, purchase, download and use a ticket, anytime and anywhere, on a mobile device.”

HCE Ticketing Solution Overview

This solution combines the smart ticketing platform developed by Rambus Ecebs with the HCE cloud-based payments technology developed by Rambus Bell ID. The comprehensive suite includes the HCE Ticket Wallet Service, which securely provisions and manages a virtual smart card to store tickets on the phone, and a configurable HCE Ticketing App, which provides consumers with an interface to purchase, fulfil and manage tickets. As well, the Ticketing App helps collect valuable traveler data and analytics for transport operators to optimise ticket offers, pricing, staffing and routes.

The HCE Ticketing App is fully integrated with Rambus Ecebs’ suite of smart ticketing products and features a flexible interface with a complete set of APIs ready to connect with third-party solutions.

The app enables travellers to load smart tickets to their phone at ticket vending machines. By adding Remote Ticket Download (RTD) software, which complements the app, smart tickets can be delivered immediately to a smart phone without needing to physically go to a ticket machine. Future plans for the Ticketing App include additional value-added services such as account-based ticketing, integrated journey planning, real-time updates and third-party offers. Additionally, both the HCE Ticket Wallet Service and Ticketing App can be deployed with existing ITSO-based infrastructure, the UK interoperable open ticketing specification.

HCE in Transport

HCE offers the security of a smart card on a mobile device without relying on access to a secure element (SE). This is achieved through secure cloud storage of valuable account credentials, rather than the SE in a phone, enabling a broad adoption across NFC-enabled smart phones and mobile network operators.

When applied to transport, HCE enables operators to offer the mobile ticketing experience travellers have come to want and expect by providing a mobile app to securely store and use tickets directly on their mobile devices. Rather than storing tickets on traditional plastic smart cards, they are stored on a virtual smart card in a secured app that can then be used to tap through gates to travel.